Thanos (2017) #13-18

Thanos #13-18

Originally released in 2018

Written by Donny Cates

Art by Geoff Shaw

In a lot of his appearances, Thanos's greatest enemy tends to be himself; these issues take that in a more literal direction.  At the start, we see a future where Thanos wins - he has slaughtered the galaxy, if not the universe, killing Earth's heroes, Galactus, the Celestials... and yet it's not enough.  Despite all of his killing, he hasn't earned the one thing that he wants - Death. (either the love of the Grim Reaper or to actually die - it's all the same to him)

With the help of his unlikely ally, a Ghost Rider fueled by the Power Cosmic, Lord Thanos (the future version) brings regular Thanos to his time to help him against one last challenge, a fallen herald of Galactus.  I figured there was more to the story, given what Lord Thanos had accomplished up to this point.  I was under the assumption that it would ultimately be Lord Thanos's goal to have Thanos kill him, finally giving him what he wants.

Starting off the story, I was concerned that it might be overselling Thanos.  Under the pen of Jim Starlin, Thanos is such a big threat because of his mind - when gathering the Infinity Stones, he couldn't take on the Elders of the Universe in a direct fight and had to outsmart them. Here, his intellect doesn't get much focus, and his strength is emphasized instead, with him being able to outright ignore and even enjoy the effects of Ghost Rider's Penance Stare.

The story improves from there, however, as we get into the backstory of the Cosmic Ghost Rider and the arrival of the last living being in the universe aside from Thanos, Thanos, a Hulk who's begging for death, and Cosmic Ghost Rider.  The Cosmic Ghost Rider is a man who has made deals with multiple devils over his lifetimes.  Tormented to the point of insanity, willing to sacrifice what remains of his world to get revenge, and holding a flippant attitude to just about everything, he is completely unrecognizable from the man that he once was.

Lord Thanos allegedly brought regular Thanos to his time in order to help defeat the last living beings in the universe aside from those four - the Silver Surfer and the Annihilation Wave.  Norrin Radd has spent thousands of years preparing for this fight, though with a second Thanos thrown into the mix, it still doesn't go well.

The comic almost reads like a fever dream at times - "what if Silver Surfer led the Annihilation Wave and was able to use Thor's hammer?  What if the Punisher died, made a deal with Mephisto, and then became a Herald of Galactus?" It's downright bonkers.

All things must come to an end, and for this series, that end is death, and lots of it.  Lord Thanos's ultimate goal isn't much of a surprise if you know much about Thanos, and the final battle between the two Thanoses (Thanosi?) is a brutal one.

The series was bleak, though the tone was ridiculous enough that it never felt too dark, if that makes any sense.  Cosmic Ghost Rider helped to inject a bit of a light-hearted mood into the events that occurred, and much like the various versions of Kang the Conqueror throughout his timeline, the two versions of Thanos are barely hiding their contempt and disgust towards each other.  It was different from what I'm used to, but I thought it was a good story with some great art.